


Because of You

by ChickenFajitas



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Angry Peter Parker, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, I can't take this anymore, I don't want to clog their tags, I'm Bad At Titles, If I tell myself Infinity War never happened then it didn't, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor TW for panic attack, NOT STARKER - Freeform, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Clint Barton Friendly, Not Natasha Romanoff Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker tells team cap off, Platonic Relationships, Sassy Peter Parker, Team cap is in this but I didn't tag them, There are many curse words, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is trying his best, Vaguely based on the februwump day 2 prompt, but it's not first-person, not team Cap friendly, not wanda maximoff friendly, rated for language, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickenFajitas/pseuds/ChickenFajitas
Summary: When the Rogues move back into the tower, Tony asks Peter to play nice. Avoid them when he can, and when he can't, put on a smile and pretend he doesn't hate them. Peter thought he was doing pretty good.But when the Rogues get tired of never catching Tony alone and decide to ambush him, Peter finds that he can't hold his tongue.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 320





	Because of You

**Author's Note:**

> This is very anti-team cap since I am still incredibly salty, almost 5 years after the movie came out.
> 
> It's set between Homecoming and Infinity War, but I like to imagine IW never happens :)
> 
> TW: A character has a panic attack, but it doesn't go into detail

Peter was doing his best, he really was. When Mr. Stark told his pseudo-son mentee that the ‘Rogues’ (as the media dubbed them) were being pardoned and moved back into the tower, Peter was ready to attack on sight. He saw the suit footage from Siberia with the help of FRIDAY, and saw the man when he returned, beaten and ridden with PTSD. In the year Peter had known Mr. Stark, he found that his mentor was getting a little better every day, with the help of Pepper, Rhodey, Peter, Vision, and his own will. Peter was not about to let the Rogues dance back into their lives and tear down the progress they’d made. 

However, Mr. Stark knew Peter’s feelings on Captain Asshat and his gaggle of terrorists. His weren’t much different, with only an added layer of broken trust and betrayal. He also knew that the world needed the Avengers, and causing unnecessary fighting wouldn’t help anything. So, he asked Peter to just try to avoid the Rogues as much as possible. And when it wasn’t possible, to put on a pretty face and pretend he didn’t feel the burning rage inside him. 

Peter wasn’t a good actor. He met the Rogues on the roof when they landed their jet (something he insisted on doing, he refused to leave Mr. Stark alone with them) and couldn’t help the glare. Luckily, he was wearing his suit and they couldn’t really tell, other than the tightening of the lenses. Anyone who didn’t know how the lenses worked could blame this on the sun in his eyes. 

Somehow, Peter managed to keep relatively cool after that. He avoided the Rogues whenever possible, but made sure to be with Mr. Stark for comfort whenever his father figure had to be near them. He bit his tongue when they questioned who he was the first time they met him as Peter. He kept his mouth shut when they took everything Mr. Stark gave them and couldn’t even express gratitude. He tried to think of something else when they complained about virtually everything. 

They came to know Spider-man as the talkative, excitable kid whose tone seemed ever so slightly clipped when he spoke to them. Peter was Tony’s quiet intern who seemed to always be around. He also seemed closer to Tony than anyone had ever managed to get. They always seemed to be touching each other in small gestures of comfort, like a hand on a shoulder, a pinky in a belt loop, fingers on a forearm. The Rogues were all confused as to how this seemingly unimportant child managed to burrow his way into Tony’s non-existent heart. 

None of them believed Peter was just an intern. But that wasn’t the most pressing matter at the moment. In the three months since their return, the Rogues hadn’t yet managed to get Tony alone. They (minus Sam and Bucky who, for some reason, started to side with Tony) wanted to discuss why Captain America wasn’t the leader of the Avengers anymore, and they wanted Tony to apologize so they could get back to being the family they once were. However, Tony seemed to avoid them like the plague, and when they did see him, he was always with Pepper, Rhodey, or most often, Peter. 

Turns out, all they had to do was make up a little lie. Steve, Wanda, Clint, and Natasha spoke openly about fake plans to go visit Clint’s family one Thursday. They made it very clear that they were not supposed to be in the building. Then, Wanda briefly disabled FRIDAY while Natasha went up and broke Stark’s coffee maker. Finally, they waited for Tony to come down to the communal kitchen.

Tony ended up sleeping until the late morning, since he was never one to have a good sleep schedule. It’s almost noon when the annoyed man came stumbling into the communal kitchen and began brewing a cup of coffee. 

What the Rogues didn’t know, is that they had picked a terrible day to ambush Tony. It was the last day of the trimester, and Midtown High School had a half-day on Thursday and the day off school on Friday so teachers could prepare for the next trimester. Peter was to go to the tower after he was let out on Thursday, stay there until Sunday, and then spend that day with Aunt May. 

So as Tony was stumbling into the kitchen at noon, Peter was getting in his suit and beginning to swing to the tower. He picked up his pace when his spider-sense began to tingle, a gentle prickly feeling at the nape of his neck telling him that something was wrong. 

When he finally made it to the tower, he went straight to the window that led to his bedroom, quickly changed into regular clothes, and asked FRIDAY where Mr. Stark was. 

“Boss is in the communal kitchen along with Mr. Rogers, Mr. Barton, Ms. Romanoff, and Ms. Maximoff. He seems to be in a state of distress.”

‘Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit-‘ Peter thought as he ran down the stairs, hoping they’d be quicker than waiting for the elevator. 

When he burst into the communal kitchen, he did not like what he saw. Mr. Stark looked like he was having a panic attack, eyes wide and scared, breathing uneven and heavy. Steve had a hand tightly gripped on his upper arm, and he, Wanda, and Clint were shouting at Mr. Stark while Natasha leaned on the counter and watched. 

Peter, briefly stunned, picked up on phrases like, “You refuse to even have a conversation about it!” “You still haven’t apologized!!” “Steve has been our leader for years, you can’t just strip away his title!” “You’re the one who tore our family apart!”

For a fraction of a second, Peter thought of Mr. Stark’s earlier words. Pissing off the Rogues won’t help the situation. Put on a face and be nice, even if they don’t deserve it. But then he looked back at his father-figure’s face, clearly having a flashback, and then bought to himself, ‘I can’t take this anymore. And you shouldn’t have to.’

Peter stormed across the room, pushing through the small group and ripping Steve’s fingers off Mr. Stark’s arm. Ignoring everyone else (and their anger directed at his entrance) momentarily, Peter focused on helping Mr. Stark sit on the kitchen floor.

“Hey, Mr. Stark. It’s Pete, it’s Peter. You’re in the tower. Today is Thursday, March 8, 2018. Focus on my voice, okay? You’re alright. I’m here, and I’ll make sure everything is okay. Can you try to breathe with me?” He put Mr. Stark’s hand on his chest and breathed slowly while repeating, “In, out. In, out.”

The Rogues seemed to notice what was going on soon enough. They realized Tony was having a panic attack, and not even they were big enough assholes to stop Peter from helping him. Once Mr. Stark had come back from his flashback and was breathing relatively normal again, Peter turned to the other people in the room, standing in front of Mr. Stark to protect him. 

He took a deep breath to calm himself. 

“Hey guys, what in the ever-loving, all-encompassing fuck?” The Rogues seemed slightly shocked that quiet Peter Parker had such a colorful vocabulary. Little did they know, ‘Peter Parker’ and ‘quiet’ did not usually fit into the same sentence. 

“You arrogant, careless, belligerent, cruel people thought it was okay to bombard Mr. Stark in his own home, make him go into a panic attack, and then stand there yelling at him while he’s suffering? Why would you think that’s okay? He has PTSD, in part because of you.” 

“Hey! You don’t get to blame his mental issues on us! He caused everything that happened to him last year.” Clint squawked. 

“Really. Because if you take a step back, look at it from a perspective other than yours, an accident happened. I don’t blame it on anyone, other than the lack of training, but regardless. Many lives were lost, and many people grieved and were angry. They wanted control back, so a hundred and seventeen countries signed a document giving you rules. It wasn’t perfect, but it could be amended. And it was! But no, you thought you knew better than a hundred and seventeen countries! Because the safest hands are your own, right? And, the situation with Barnes wasn’t perfect. But I’ve seen the footage from Mr. Stark’s suit in Siberia. He was willing to put everything aside and help you. And then, he saw footage that would destroy any normal person. And, he learned that you knew! And just didn’t tell him, because it might make him angry.” Peter turned to look directly at Steve and got up in his face. 

“If you had handled it like an adult, sat him down, and let it sink in while Barnes wasn’t there, it could have all turned out okay. Maybe he wouldn’t have had the perfect reaction, but it would have been a helluva lot better than what happened. But instead, you attacked him two to one and shoved your fucking shield into his arc reactor. Something you know he already had PTSD over, and left him there to die. You, sir, are the scum of the earth, and I want you to know that if it was up to me, you’d rot in prison for what you’ve done. And then, you’d rot in hell. But no, because Mr. Stark is ten times the person any of you will ever be,” Peter stepped back to face the entire group, still standing in front of Mr. Stark to shield him, “he allowed you back into his building and gave you everything you ever fucking wanted. And you can’t even be grateful. So if you’d excuse me, I need to help Mr. Stark, because you all are disgusting, fucked up human beings, who can’t even learn from your mistakes.” 

And with that, Peter let out a breath and turned back around and crouched to face Mr. Stark. He put a hand on his elbow and helped him stand, before gently leading him out of the room. Once they were in the elevator on the way to the penthouse, Peter got a look at his mentor’s face. He was clearly exhausted, as he usually was after panic attacks, but there was also something else in his eyes. Gratitude, pride, and humor. 

“Been holding that in for a while?” Mr. Stark joked.

“You have no idea.” Peter let out a breathy laugh before turning serious again. “I know you asked me not to do that, but in that situation, I think they deserved it. But I know I went directly against what you asked, so I’m really so-”

“Ah, ah, ah. You don’t need to apologize. Thank you for saving me. I… don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there. And it was pretty amazing watching you rip Cap another asshole.”

They shared a laugh and stepped out of the elevator. The rest of the day was spent curled up on the couch, watching movies and napping. When Pepper got home, she joined them, and despite what had happened only a few hours before, Tony thought he could never be happier than he was at that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the first thing I've ever posted on AO3! I hope it's halfway decent. If we're honest, I wrote this throughout my classes as a way to distress, because junior year is kicking my ass. I don't think this is my best writing, but it was fun and helped me get through the day. I don't even know if this will stay posted lol.
> 
> I'm sorry if any of the characters are OOC, I find it hard to decide whether or not a character would say something. Also, the date that Peter tells Tony is just a vague approximation of when this takes place in my head.
> 
> Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! I am really trying to put more emotion in my writing, and make it sound less like an essay, haha. 
> 
> Anyway, I really really hope you enjoyed!!


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